The Choice (Oneshot)
by Vampire Tails
Summary: Part Four of the Alternate TKO Series. Terbio learns the harrowing truth about his family.


**A/N:** aLRIGHT, here's the part I've been dying to give you all! I'm extremely proud of this one, and the next one too. However, notice that I skipped Dark Plaza. I dunno exactly what to do with it, but I've been getting some ideas through my brain. I just need to find one that works. So, without further ado, here!

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**The Choice  
****Oneshot**

It was a fine Sunday morning, and Terbio was currently going through the old storage closet, searching for something and cleaning it up a bit too. His mom had told him what to keep and what to discard, but it didn't hurt to bend those rules just a little. He could keep _some_ of the things mom said to throw away and she'd be none the wiser.

He hoped.

There were some things in the discard list he really wanted to keep. Like old toys with memories buried deep within them. He didn't _want_ to get rid of those.

Terbio was sure his mom would understand.

As he sifted through a box, he came across a helmet of some kind, greyish black and pointy like cat's ears. He blinked, and backed out of the closet, still holding the mask, deciding to show Carol what he discovered. Because it felt familiar to him.

His mom was in the dining room at the moment, drinking a cup of cream coffee. She heard the pitter-patter of feet against the floor, growing closer.

"Hey, mom," he finally spoke, taking a deep breath, "what's this?" and held up the mask.

She spewed out her coffee just like that, thankfully away from him, and her son grew worried. "Mom?!"

"I.. wasn't expecting you to find that," was her reply after she recovered, hand to her chest.

"But what is it?" he frowned.

Carol offered a sad smile. "That.. is your father's mask.. Laserblast."

Terbio's mouth dropped open. "Wait, hold up… you're saying that Laserblast, the ultracool hero from before I was born, was my dad?"

She nodded. "And I'm sure he'd be proud of you…"

_Proud of me…_ those words echoed in his mind, and he sniffled, taking a deep breath. "C..can I put it on?"

The blonde smiled. "Just be careful, Peanut. He wasn't called Laserblast for nuthin'."

And then she held a hand to her mouth. She was hiding something, Terbio quickly deduced. But decided to wait on that. He tried on the mask, and found it was a perfect fit, even for someone his age.

"Awww, you look just like him.." Carol smiled, and got up to lead him to a mirror, taking his hand gently. His eyes widened behind the mask, and after leaning forward and backward from the mirror he did a few poses in it. The blonde laughed, "Well, aside from the scraggly hair," and then she coughed, narrowing her eyes. "Probably need to cut it at this point…"

His hair was down to the floor at this point, but he shook his head anyway. He never tripped, never fell, so it was fine. He even snarled. "Don't _touch_ my hair."

Carol, even now, feared her son at times, and this was one of those times. But she did not back away from him this time.

"Heh.. I look cool.." he still did little poses in front of the mirror, with a sharp grin too. That was when his mission watch went off. Terbio sighed a little as he accepted the call.

Mr. Gar popped up and debriefed him on his latest mission concerning Professor Venomous's and Boxman's nuclear plant plans. But before he hung up, he stared at the mask for a while. And then sighed before he hung up.

"Mm…" Terbio pressed a button on his watch that activated his top secret hero mission suit. His suit, unlike the others, was white instead of black, with a blue vest and pink little boots to complete it. Rad and Enid had long since changed from black to white, "to coordinate better" Enid had said.

He didn't believe it until they had issues deciding their team's name, which ended up being pathetic to him, but eh. What could he do?

Carol blew out a breath, and smiled. "Good luck on your mission, sweetie!"

"Thanks, mom," he was jolted out of his thoughts, and ran outside, taking a cookie beforehand. He chomped on it as he flew towards Voxmore, and eyed the plant not even a yard away. He could of course shut it down, destroy it, but that could cause problems. So to Voxmore he went.

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Terbio soon burst through the wall of Voxmore, still wearing his dad's mask, and landed on a scaffolding, narrowing his eyes behind that mask. Professor Venomous was the first one he saw, and the man lurched away, eyes wide.

He had every right to fear TKO.

"Alright, give it up, chumps!" Terbio's fists flared up, crazy purple fire flaring up from them. He even grinned, excited to battle them.

Venomous then paid close attention to what he was wearing, and his eyes widened more. Was that…?

Boxman immediately sensed what PV was about to do and shook his head. "Shouldn't we wait just a bit longer?"

"No," the man smirked.

"I hear you guys but I ain't sure what you're sayin'! come on closer!" the boy threatened them, fists still on fire.

And indeed Professor Venomous decided to come closer, with a grin, "Ah, TKO…" the boy flinched at his old name. "What a pleasant surprise."

"I told you, it's Terbio now!" Terbio shot back, and threw the first punch. The professor dodged with a sidestep, though the fire burned at his arm, where it singed him.

"Hng.." Venomous held his burning arm. Where did he learn to do that?

"PV!" Boxman dropped what he was doing and rushed for him as fast as his legs could carry him.

"No, Boxman, I'm fine," the man insisted through a hiss. "Prep the cannons…"

The chubby green-haired man worried his lip, but didn't argue, heading back to his post.

"I didn't forget what you did, trappin' me and my friends," Terbio sneered, in a fighting stance, "and how much I _hate_ you for that…" His fist clenched even more, so much so that his finished nails were digging into his skin. He was giving such a death glare that if Laserblast's mask didn't hide it, Venomous would surely be dead.

"Good," was the professor's only response. And Terbio was shocked into lowering his guard, eyes wide. "I like it when heroes hate me."

The purple fire extinguished, and he unclenched his hands, still staring at the man.

"But of course, you don't really matter because you're not a hero, are you?" the villain smirked.

"I.. I am!" the unkempt kid growled, "don't you dare say that aga-"

"Threats? not something a great hero would do, huh?" Venomous interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

"Ergh, I'm gonna get you!" the boy moved to fight him, but was stopped by a foot to the stomach, which knocked the wind out of him. The mask was knocked off, clattering to the floor, and Terbio landed next to the railing. "Urgh…"

Venomous approached the mask and picked it up, and Terbio gasped and growled, "No! put that back! it's not yours!"

"Really now?" other than that, he ignored Terbio and donned the mask, revealing a great similarity to a certain hero. Other than the purple skin. The weird stubble marks were where they should be.

Terbio tried to ignore this, clenching his fist. "No! you're not Laserblast. Laserblast was an ultracool hero from before I was born and he died!"

"Take a good look, kid," the man smiled. Terbio didn't want to, but he took another look. He matched the description, other than the loss of muscle mass and, again, purple skin. Terbio's breathing grew heavy as he came to a realization.

_No! it has to be a mistake. Venomous cannot be.. __**him**__.. he must have been brainwashed! _his thoughts went wild, as he clutched the bar of the railing, eyes wide and the purple in them intensifying.

"I _am_ Laserblast," Professor Venomous revealed with a grin, raising his arms.

"NO!" he shouted, and it was loud, ringing through the room and apparently, to Carol too, for she soon slammed through next to the hole Terbio had made and landed next to her son.

"Peanut! are you okay?" she asked, but was met with laughter from their nemesis.

"Poor thing couldn't handle it," the man looked to his old partner sleazily, but the mask hid it.

Terbio growled and tried to get back up, but his hair tripped him up and sent him off the scaffolding. Carol grabbed him instantly and set him back down. They exchanged smiles before the blonde focused in on Venomous, rushing towards him and successfully tackling him, the mask thrown off once more. "Traumatizin' my baby boy is a _crime_."

Venomous looked up at Carol with a pitiful expression, hoping she wouldn't hurt him. Carol narrowed her eyes. "And what were you doing with this mask anyways?! it belonged to the great hero, Laserblast!"

"Uh, about that…" the boy spoke up, biting his lip.

"Heh.. you should listen to him, _Sparks_…" Professor Venomous grinned a very goofy grin, similar to what Laserblast would have pulled off, and her eyes widened.

She grabbed the mask and slid it on his face, and he still grinned. She pulled it off, growing confused, and put it back on again. "Uh…"

The description matched.

And so did her nickname. Only Laserblast called her that. "You… but you were dead!" she yanked off the mask. "We saw the shoppe get shrunk and teleported.. or whatever!"

"Was I?" he pushed Carol off, who pinned him with a wide, angry stare. He fixed his hair. "Allow me to explain."

_Cob, I __**hope **__he was brainwashed, _Terbio furrowed his brow.

"That donut shoppe I rushed into? it was my lab. POINT was going to raid it and I couldn't let them see…" the man explained. "Instead, I lost my power due to the items I made, and my lab went up in flames."

Laserblast was shown hiding in a pipe, not wearing his mask. It was miraculously the only thing that survived aside from him, and Silverspark picked it up.

"But.. your power was to blast things with your ultracool lasers," Terbio interrupted.

"No, Peanut… that was just his helmet…"

"My _real_ power was to drain others' powers and energy," the man explained as the Laserblast in the flashback did just that, a hand on the ground and a purple orb growing and expanding towards his enemies. POINT's enemies. Terbio's eyes widened. He recognized it. He'd pulled off the same thing.

"I was considered a great asset to the team because of it, and without it, how could I ever hope to be a part of POINT still? to be a father?" Venomous continued. Carol stared at him, narrowing her eyes.

"But.. as I was hiding in the pipe, you said something, Carol… all that time you assured me I was strong. But you said I wasn't strong enough. And I was _going_ to crawl back out."

The blonde hung her head. She regretted it now.

"So instead, I hid myself, trying to find a cure for my powerless situation."

Laserblast was shown mixing chemicals and using himself as a lab rat, but all they made him do it seemed was turn purple and other traits he didn't want. Venomous sighed, staring at them both. "But I got in contact with some people. What I was making could sell for a lot. As I rose up the chain, I realized something…" he grinned.

Carol lifted her head, furrowing her brow again.

"You don't need power, to _have_ power!" he laughed maniacally. Boxman shook his head.

He was soon cut off by Terbio snickering and then out and out laughing, and Carol swung around, eyes wide.

"Hahahaha, wowwww!" he wiped a tear away, as he faced his dad, grinning, "so you're.. you're saying that you weren't brainwashed?"

"..yes," the professor admitted.

"And it was your choice to become a villain?" there was something off about that grin. "You chose that life?"

"Uh, yeah…" Venomous had every right to back away.

Terbio continued to chuckle, before he frowned, hunched over, and growled, "What a _lousy_ turn of events." He pointed at Venomous. "You're pathetic. Leaving mom instead of confronting her and showing her she wasn't right. Deciding you were useless to the team without your powers. Greyman lost his, yet he still was a valuable asset."

"Terbio, you don't understand-"

"I think I understand perfectly well…" he cracked his knuckles singlehandedly, causing both Carol and the professor to become unnerved. "Mom was right. You're not strong enough. You're a loser."

Professor Venomous suddenly felt small. But he tried his best to handle this situation. "Y..you can't talk to your father that way."

Terbio approached him. "Newsflash. I was Laserblast's son. Not _yours_. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a mission to do…" he clicked his thumb, and purple energy flared across his hand. He uppercutted the living snot out of his dad, sending him through the ceiling.

Boxman yelped, and got in the cannon. Terbio turned to him, narrowing his eyes. "Care to join him?"

He shook his head vigorously. He didn't want to join Venomous, not the way he went out, and instead shot out of the cannon. He met Venomous, who was still soaring through the sky, achy and looking sick to his stomach. Boxman shouted as they crashed into the power plant they were working on, "I TOLD YOU SO!"

The boy then knelt, looking down at the floor. _Another hero I looked up to.. my own father.. turned out to be a giant fluke._

He lightly punched the floor. Carol bit her lip, and approached her son. She knelt and gently gripped his shoulder, and he returned the favor by hugging her. Which surprised them both. However, she spoke first, "Terbio… it's gonna be okay."

"Learning my father chose to be a villain isn't," the boy leaned away from her embrace, and sighed. "Just another broken pedestal."

There was silence. Carol sighed too eventually. "You were right about him. We were both right.. he wasn't.. strong enough… he wasn't strong in the real way." She rubbed at his shoulder. "But you.. you are strong enough, Terbio. You've resisted your urges so well, channeling them into positive outlets, and you could have very well joined the villains' side, but you didn't. I'm proud of you."

This rang through his head, and he started to cry, sniffling, but he smiled. "Thanks, mom.."

"You're welcome, sweetie," Carol grinned, happy that her little boy was all cheered up. "Now, how about some ice cream?"

His eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously. "But first.. can I get that haircut? I tripped on my hair."

The blonde snickered at this, getting up and allowing Terbio to follow her, with a frown now.

"It's not funny, mom!"

She chuckled. "Is too."

And it was then Terbio allowed himself to laugh, genuinely this time.

**-END-**

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**A/N: **WOOOOOOOO! and there we go~ don't worry, Mr. Logic didn't cut Terbio's hair too short, just to his knees again. You'll have to wait a while for the next part, since I'm debating whether I should combine it with this or leave it as its own. Actually, I'll leave it as its own. But you'll still have to wait! :3

So leave plenty of reviews! and I'll see you in the next part! or whenever!


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